IDEAS FOR GOODPaper is essential in our everyday lives, as they are used for books, prints, notebooks and more. They have become so convenient, it’s hard to imagine living without them.
However, not many are aware of the dark side. A vast number of trees is cut down and tons of water is used to produce paper. Most of us already know paper is made from trees, however, facts on water consumption are not so well-known: to produce 1 ton of plain paper, 20 tree trunks and 100 tons of water is consumed.
Today, there is a global movement to protect the environment. Decreasing forest areas and lack of water resource are urgent matters that cannot be ignored. To solve these issues, a new material called LIMEX, made of limestone instead of water and trees, is gathering attention.
LIMEX is a composite material and an inorganic disperse system, containing over 50% of calcium carbonate. TBM Co., Ltd., a corporation based in Japan, developed this new material and obtained patent in many countries of the world.
0.6-0.8 tons of limestone with approximately 0.2-0.4 tons of polyolefin, which is a kind of plastic resin, can produce 1 ton of paper substitute (LIMEX sheet). The producing procedure does not consume any water or trees.
There are plenty of limestone, the raw material of LIMEX, on Earth including Japan. Limestone is also a resource that is 100% self-sufficient in Japan. Actually, limestone reserve is abundant in many parts of the world, and is highly recyclable too. The unit price is low, so there is strong price competitiveness.
What’s noticeable is that LIMEX does not only replace paper, but it can also be a substitute for plastic.
LIMEX pellets can be produced by collecting the paper substitute LIMEX sheet, those already used for printing, and crushing them. They are then used to mould plastic substitute. This upcycling will reduce of environmental burden.
In recent years, plastic products are being restricted especially in Europe. These areas have essential infrastructure for recycling. However, there are many other areas that don’t. In response to this, biodegradable LIMEX is under consideration: replacing polyolefin resin to 100% biomass based, 100% biodegradable material.
TBM Co., Ltd., the developer, states on its website, “We believe it can save the future because the resource is not precious. It is abundant everywhere.”
Plastic papers and products are incredibly convenient and familiar to us. However, we cannot disregard the negative impact they have on the environment. TBM ranks top in the Nihon Keizaidai Shimbun’s (The Nikkei Business Daily) NEXT Unicorn Survey. The corporation will continue to grow in the future without doubt.
The time has come for us, who consume enormous amount of paper and plastic, to shift our focus to this new material.
[Website] LIMEX from TBMThis article was originally published on IDEAS FOR GOOD.
Translated by Chisato Shizume.
